The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said its officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) arrested two Chinese passengers who attempted to leave the country with spurious immigration documents.
In a statement, the BI said the two passengers were intercepted at the departure area of the NAIA Terminal 1 on Sunday before they could board a Philippine Airlines flight bound for Bangkok.
The duo, identified as Wang Dingku, 31, and Su Zhengkun, 25, are now detained at the BI holding facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City while deportation proceedings.
According to BI, the Chinese passengers were denied departure and instead arrested after they were found to have entered the country with counterfeit visas.
“We commend the immigration officers involved for their vigilance in detecting the fraudulent travel documents that these aliens used to circumvent our immigration laws and enter our country illegally,” the BI said.
BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said the passengers presented themselves for departure formalities at the immigration counter when the BI officers who processed them noticed irregularities in the visas impressed on their passports.
The visas were thus referred for examination to the BI’s forensic documents laboratory which later certified that the said visas are indeed counterfeit.
Sandoval said this prompted the BI supervisors on duty to arrest the passengers and endorse them to the bureau’s legal division for filing of deportation charges.
Ferdinand Tendenilla, BI border control and intelligence unit (BCIU) acting chief, said Wang and Su already underwent preliminary investigation by BI prosecutors at the bureau’s main office on Monday.
Charges of violating the Philippine immigration act will then be filed against them before the BI board of commissioners which will issue the order for their summary deportation.
